Sooner or later it affects everyone: smallprint is harder and harder to read. “The arms become shorter and shorter“. Reading glasses become an essential accessory.

Getting older, everybody develops presbyopia – irrespective of whether one had any problems of sight or was short- or far-sighted. It starts at around 45 years of age, the first early stage symptoms are blurred smallprints at close distance that can be read only with reading glasses.

What leads to presbyopia?

When the eye lens loses elasticity.

Cause of presbyopia is the progressive loss of elasticity of the lens due to increasing age.

Today modern treatments allow the exchange of the endogenous stiffened eye lens with an artificial lens, enabling thus, even at the age of 45 and more, a life without reading glasses or varifocals.

Young age

age appr. 45+

age appr. 50+

The ductility of the eye lens guarantees that the focus, irrespective of the visual distance, in far, medium and near distance always lies directly on the retina and that objects appear focused and sharp.

Image 1Distant objects can be seen clearly, for a sharp distant vision the lens is flat and does not need elasticity.Image 2Objects in an intermediate distance also appear clearly since a remaining elasticity allows a slight spherical curve of the lens and light is still focussed on the retina.Image 3Near objects appear blurred, the lens cannot curve itself any more sufficiently. Incoming light rays are not focussed anymore on the retina.

Image 1Far sight remains untainted.Image 2In an advanced stage the lens stiffens increasingly leading to limitations in the intermediary distance and with computer work.Image 3The capacity of the lens to focus in the near distance is becoming increasingly worse. Number of dioptres of the reading glasses rise.

How to treat presbyopia?

Treatments for a life without reading glasses

Presbyopia cannot be stopped, either with medication or with eye training. For maintaining perfect eyesight for all distances there are two possibilities:

1. Reading glasses only for short distance or varifocal glasses when you were already using glasses or were short- or farsighted.

2. The implantation of multifocal lenses.

State of the art for correcting presyopia, is the application of multifocal lenses which is a safe and precise method. In an out-patient surgery the endogenous stiffened eye lens is replaced with an intelligent artificial lens.

Prior to the surgery the eye is anesthetized with eye drops. Surgery takes about 10 minutes per eye. This so-called refractive eye lens surgery is a well established method and has been applied for decades routinely in cataract treatment. In Germany this surgery is carried out more than 700.000 times a year.

Multifocal lenses not only correct presbyopia but also short- or far-sightedness as well as corneal curvature. These lenses have several focuses and it is possible to see clearly in different distances without glasses.

Plus: After a refractive lens exchange a cataract in later years can be ruled out.

Is a refractive lens exchange an option for me?

Basically everyone can benefit from multifocal lenses. If this method applies for you can only be determined after extensive preliminary examination and personal consultation with one of our Smile Eyes experts.